Addendum: Thanks to help from the NBA’s timely suspension of Draymond Green and the Warrior’s Stephen Curry seemingly taking under-the-table payments from the NBA to throw game 7 – yes, he did keep passing the ball into the stands and heaving airballs toward the goal – the NBA finally was able to get what they wanted – A Championship for Loser LeBron.

If you don’t believe it, find the interview with disgraced NBA ref Tim Donaghy – he who bet on games and made sure he made money – about the NBA pre-game referee conferences where they are “coached” about which team to favor. Fans see the calls/non-calls. They know.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are a sick ship sinking fast.

Blown out in 2 straight games by the Golden State Warriors the Cavs and their nominal NBA masthead LeBron James are threatening to ruin the potential billions in advertising revenue that corporations expect from a competitive NBA Finals series.

And who’s to blame for all this?

Why, basketball mastermind LeBron himself, who since arriving in Cleveland has been slinking around behind the scenes like Richard the III manipulating player trades and coaching changes in order to create a…well, just look at the results.

It seems the Cavs will go down even worse than they did last year.

“Thanks, LeBron!”

The creep bit is that James and his cronies – did we mention his agency handled Johnny Manziel – scream to the skies that they “never” have any hand in trading away #1 draft picks, bringing in old players, dumping coaches after they are seen dissing him over and over(Dave Blatt).

This is what happens when NBA franchises turn their playgrounds over to the kids. Was this the price for getting LeBee back to the Cold Northern Climes?

And it was good to see Harvey Araton of The New York Times finally see the light and spell it out for readers (better late than never).

Well, hey. At least the Cavs got that Eastern Conference Title.

Then again, that wasn’t the reason LeBron came back, was it?

The Egoist promised an NBA title.

Cleveland can go to bed knowing they have possession – for now – of a player who holds one distinctive record – It was reported that James has amassed over half a billion dollars so far in his career.

Hmmm. Still not enough to buy an NBA franchise. But he’s certainly able to run one.

The problem is that there are those of us who do follow sports and have memories and know something more about players than just how many points they scored last week.

And for a NYT’s sportswriter to play up Paul George’s “feminine” side is a grotesque slap in the face of all women. Especially after the tweets George sent back in 2014 after Ravens running back Ray Rice knocked out his girlfriend in an elevator then dragged her like a rag doll from that elevator.

Paul George, in support of fellow professional athlete Ray Rice, said that if Ray’s girlfriend wasn’t “trippin” about the event, then Paul George wasn’t “trippin.” “lol.” (!) “Let that man play!”

Of course, George prefaced his comments by saying “hittin women” isn’t “coo.”

But then his logic is, if the woman doesn’t complain, NO BIG DEAL.

So, NYT’s cub reporter Scott Cacciola who wrote this piece extolling the sweet, feminine side of Paul George, is this the mindset of an NBA player who really supports women?

Or is it an NBA player who thinks a privileged, million dollar star athlete can punch out a woman, then drag her across the floor of a hotel like a rag doll, then expect to go right on playing and making millions of dollars from the public no matter what he does? LOL?

LOL. That is: “Lots of laughs”, to Paul George, when women get knocked out cold by big athletes.

Then there’s Paul George’s tweet about when it’s OKAY to HIT A WOMAN:

***

So, just to keep this straight, Paul: If the woman hits you first, go right ahead and knock her out? Homie Ray Rice made the “mistake” of a straight-up hit?

This was less than a year and a half ago. September 2014. Recent event.

Yes, George got lots of support from certain quarters of supporters.

But the quarter that matters, Pacer’s President Larry Bird, came down on the other side. Bird came out with an apology from the Pacer’s organization and a dress-down on George. George later released his own public relations-written apology that was in such stark contrast to his tweets it was obvious George had no input whatsoever on its composition. He simply had to pretend he wrote it. For the public. For the press.

***

We’ve made the point before with Peyton Manning and we’ll make it again here.

Why do these paid journalists expect us paying customers to buy heroic lies? Are they setting up Paul George to be more valuable as a million dollar spokesperson? Like Peyton Manning? By creating heroes for public consumption?

Babe Ruth was a drunken, womanizing baseball player. But a great player. We could accept that. If he beat up women when he was drunk, we wouldn’t accept that.

Paul George scores points. That’s all. Those who know more about him know he is no leader. There is no there there. Yet cub reporter Cacciola wants to spin a story around him that covers-up the truth of who he really is.